Making Olympic History: 2000 Sydney Games
 |
| New York Times |
At the first modern Olympics in 1896,
Melpomene became the first female to compete,
although unofficially, in the games. Women have made
many advancements in the Olympic games over the past
100 years and it appears that the 2000 games in
Sydney, Australia will benefit them more than
ever before. Two new sports have been added to the
games, increasing the total number of sports to twenty-eight.
In addition, Sydney will incorporate more than twenty
new women's events into its program. This is twenty
more than were seen in the Atlanta games in 1996.
For the first time in Olympic competition,
the Modern Pentathlon, Water Polo, and Weightlifting
will include events for women. Athletic, Aquatic,
and Shooting sports are also adding more women's events.
Two sports being added to the Olympic agenda are the
Triathlon and
 |
| Mia Hamm (white jersey) battles
for the ball during the U.S. women's 2-0 victory
over Norway. (USA Today) |
Taekwondo, both incorporating events
for men and women. In Gymnastics, women will benefit
from the additional discipline of Trampoline in the
year 2000.
Women are still left completely out
of a few sports, making the total number of events
they participate in less than that of male athletes.
At the moment, Sydney's program is expected to include
a total of 296 events. 166 of these events are specifically
for men, while only 118 are primarily women's events.
Men and women share twelve mixed events. Women will
not be seen competing at all in Boxing, Baseball,
and Wrestling. Boxing is one of the eight sports that
will hold competition on at least fifteen of the sixteen
scheduled Olympic days. Softball and the disciplines
of Rhythmic Gymnastics and Synchronized Swimming,
however, are designed exclusively for women.
[Media Resources:
"Spectators and Female Athletes Big Winners in Sydney."
Anthony Edgar, January 1999.]
|
Featured Women
Athletes & Teams
Marion
Jones
US
Women's
Softball Team
Iris Zimmerman
Cara Dunne
Gail Laurence
Olympic Women Winners
|
